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Sadiq Khan should take advantage of Uber’s desperation

Uber is now begging London’s mayor for an 18-month licence.

By James Farrar

Getty

Khan he do it?

NS

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The drama surrounding Uber’s legal and public relations battle to be relicensed in London descended further into farce last week, with the news that the firm is now begging the mayor to grant them an interim 18-month license. This parole period would allow Uber to avoid having to plead for its licence in Westminster Magistrates Court on 25 June 2018 and offer them another chance to prove themselves to Transport for London.

But there are signs that Uber’s force-fed PR campaign may yet win it shelter in high places. Despite our call on Uber to prove it was serious in turning over a new leaf by halting its legal appeals against us, the mayor’s spokesperson unhelpfully told the press he hoped Uber’s offering of insurance cover would “become the norm across the gig economy”. This is the wrong political aspiration for the mayor. He should instead be demanding gig economy firms obey the law, respect worker rights and pay a living wage.

For five years, Transport for London tolerated Uber. Leon Daniels, TfL’s managing director for surface transport, regularly corresponded with Uber, trove of emails uncovered by Freedom of Information requests revealed. In September 2017, shortly before retiring, Daniels decided not to renew Uber’s licence. Nevertheless, Uber continued to attempt to use TfL as evidence of a valid business model. In evidence for our case, Uber told the Employment Tribunal Judge that TfL had TfL had “vetted and verified” its business model “before and after issuing the operator’s licence”. Whatever the intentions of TfL at this point, the message to the judge from Uber was unmistakeable: TfL has no problem with us, neither should you.

The further danger now for TfL is that political manoeuvring could drag its already shredded reputation further below the water line. It may be easier for some City Hall executives to see Uber win back its licence in court. As LBC’s political editor Theo Usherwood put it, Sadiq Khan is most likely keen to avoid the political backlash of becoming “the mayor who banned Uber, rather than just the mayor who stood up to Uber”.

I say it’s time for the mayor to stand up “for” worker rights not just “to” Uber. Admittedly, there are limits to the mayor’s power. But when it comes to keeping global mega powers in check, and protecting the most vulnerable workers in London, there should be no limits to his political ambition.

James Farrar is chair of the Private Hire Drivers branch of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain’s and the co-claimant in Aslam & Farrar vs Uber.

This article was updated on 6 June 2018 to make it clear that Leon Daniels made the decision not to renew Uber’s licence before retiring, and clarify the nature of his correspondence with Uber.​